Setting

Louise Selden Headteacher Rampton Primary School Retford Road Rampton Retford DN22 0JB

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School

Following my visit to your school on 11 February 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most- recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection.

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School

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, the member of staff responsible for numeracy, representatives of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority. I visited all classrooms, holding discussions with pupils. I evaluated the school improvement plan.

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Context

The headteacher and two-thirds of the teaching staff joined the school at the beginning of the current academic year. The Chair of governors was also new in post in July 2014. Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T : 0121 679 9165 Direct email : victoria.mortimore2@serco.com

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Main findings

You have worked rapidly since joining the school to make many fundamental improvements that were needed. You revised and updated the school development plan after the inspection, so that it incorporates the areas for improvement identified in the inspection report. The plan includes clear milestones and measurable indicators that will assist you and the governing body to understand how well the school is improving. Some of the timings given for certain activities are, however, a bit vague and will not help you to know if you have fallen behind in implementing the plan, or are making progress more rapidly.

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Main findings

You have focussed carefully on taking appropriate action to develop the use of data about the pupils’ achievement and to improve the quality of teachers’ planning and the accuracy of assessments of the pupils’ work. With the support of the local authority, you have improved the quality of the data you collect about the pupils’ achievement. As a result, you have now a more-accurate understanding of how well they are doing. In addition, you are, correctly, looking much more frequently at the pupils work, in order to get a complete picture of their progress. The data have also helped you to agree realistic and measurable targets with the staff.

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Main findings

The checks that you make on the quality of teaching are being carried out with a useful regularity and frequency. In particular, the frequency has injected a sense of drive and urgency into the school’s work. The process is helping you to provide the staff with clear guidance about what is being done well and what needs to improve.

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Main findings

Members of staff with responsibilities for subject areas have been energised by being given clearly defined responsibilities and as a result of the clearly expressed expectations you have set out for them. Consequently, they have become more focussed on the right priorities for improvement in their areas of work. They demonstrate enthusiasm for the work they have been given and for the changes taking place at the school.

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Main findings

The governors demonstrate a good understanding of the priorities set out in the school development plan. The changes you have made have helped them also to focus once again on their responsibilities for supporting and challenging the school, so that they are now more able to fulfil that role. Along with the local authority, they were able to cite evidence of growing confidence in the school amongst parents and carers.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school has benefitted from a good range of purposeful and appropriate external support. Some has been provided directly by the local authority and some has been brokered by it, so that the school has support from and is working with a range of other schools where there is good practice. Importantly, you have also been seeking other possible sources of support yourself. As a result, there are good opportunities being provided for staff development and training, which are leading to improvements, for example, in Early Years provision and the teaching of mathematics.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Nottinghamshire.

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